Blogger: #14
It was a little over a year ago that four idiots, united by their love of football, decided to start a blog. What ensued was a shitstorm that their friends still shudder about. The friends of our four heroes had to face a deluge of spam messages asking them to read, like, share articles that were of a quality not dissimilar to Marouane Chamakh's hair. Yes, that bad. After a bit of a lull, you know, what with the World Cup and college ending and whatnot, the Four Man Wall is back! I can imagine my social media acquaintances squirming in their seats when they read this, but a great man once said, "Haters gonna hate", so we shall plod along, ignoring your catcalls and jeers.
Life has a way of uprooting everything around you and yet, give you this feeling that nothing has changed. #7, our silent tech-guy, and #25, our not-so-silent tech-guy, have moved to Canada and the U.S. respectively to study cool tech stuff and whatnot. #18 and myself have shifted cities, new job and all that. So, in short, we've gone international. A lot can happen in a year eh?
But, as it invariably does, a new season has dawned upon us. That glorious constant that changes every single time. We're a couple of weeks into the new season; the transfer deadline day is upon us, so previewing one of the clubs may seem a tad late, but that's what I'm going to do. So, ladies (hehe) and gentlemen, here cometh the pain: The Arsenal 2014-15 Season Preview.
I must admit, I feel a little awkward not having to mention the trophy drought. Now that that monkey is off our backs, hopefully we can kick on and have a real go at major honours (read Premier League and Champions League) this season.
The transfer window started off with us turning down the chance to re-sign one Francesc Fabregas. A decision that rankled with me not because I was still hung up over him (I wasn't), but because I didn't think we'd have a plan in place. Yes, we signed Mesut Ozil last season, but that was a shambles of a transfer window, and turning down one of the best playmakers in the world seemed a little stupid (especially in light of us playing Ozil on the left. What is up with that?!). However, we bought, and how. We started off with signing shorts-hating Alexis Sanchez from our youth feeder club Barcelona, and then bringing in Frenchman Mathieu Debuchy from Premiere Ligue side Newcastle United. This was followed by the signings of Colombian 'keeper David Ospina from Nice and Calum Chambers from the Great Southampton Fire Sale. How about that, Arsenal doing transfer business nice and early, which really does make me not regret passing up Cesc....yet.
As is often the case, the additions meant the departures of some players. Lukasz Fabianski and Bacary Sagna left for free. Vermaelen moved to Barcelona, Jenkinson went on loan to West Ham and Nicklas Bendtner signed for Wolfsburg. But, I think, overall, we've ended up on the positive side of the ledger. The squad is pretty strong, but I think we'll fall short and finish 3rd. Chelsea and Manchester City have outstanding squads, and ours, though not shabby, doesn't quite match up. We've got two really good keepers in Szczesny and Ospina. Last season, I wanted a goalkeeper because I had m reservations about Szczesny, but he had a very good season, and I've no qualms about our number one. At left back, Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs are quality. Debuchy has, surprisingly for me, filled in Sagna's boots quite well early on this season. Calum Chambers has been absolutely fantastic, and the guy is just 19. Makes you feel a little worthless eh? No? Right, just me then.
It's at centre-back where we have a massive shortage. Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker are a great pairing, but Chambers aside, there's nobody else who can play there. We've got one day to get a centre-back in, or else, we're playing with fire. A bloody big fire. Right next to an oil tanker. Our midfield, on the other hand, is chock full. We've got two players for every position and I'm not even counting Diaby. Out wide, we've got the numbers, but Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain aside, I don't think we've got real quality. Our striking department doesn't really strike fear into the hearts of opposition defences either (geddit?). With Giroud out for the rest of the year, there will be a clamour for us to buy a new striker, but Wenger has indicated that Alexis was bought to play as a striker, so there's that. A proper beast of a defensive midfielder would do nicely, but that would almost certainly mean curtains for Flamini.
So, we're going into the final day of the window desperately needing a centre-back and ideally, also adding a DM. Knowing Wenger, he'll buy a bloke who can play both positions. Or a bloke who can play neither and force him to play both positions. Square pegs and round holes. Or rather, the other way round. Or not, I don't really know. Any buying will mean selling, considering the numbers we've got:
Szczesny (HG)
Ospina
Monreal
Gibbs (HG)
Mertesacker
Koscielny
Debuchy
Arteta
Flamini
Wilshere (HG)
Ramsey (HG)
Diaby
Rosicky
Coquelin
Cazorla
Ozil
Walcott (HG)
Podolski
Campbell
Sanchez
Giroud
That's 16 foreign players, and this is off the top of my head. Sanogo, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Martinez and Chambers are all U21, so I haven't added them. It's a strong squad, and with a couple of good additions, I think we could just go all the way. Just.
That is if this new formation works. I don't know why we're playing Mesut Ozil on the left. The idea that most Gooners, myself included, harboured was that Ozil would be racking up the assists from the middle of the park feeding the speed-demons Sanchez and Walcott. Doesn't look like happening in this formation right now. We've looked unspectacular in our games so far, but that's largely down to a lack of match fitness. So, barring any new additions, I'm predicting a 3rd place finish in the Premier League and a quarterfinal exit in the Champions League.
Right, so, we're back. Not really with a bang, we know. We lack match fitness too. But hey, we were as rubbish as we usually are. Let's hope Arsenal have a nice surprise for us come May.
Don't want us back? Want someone less shitty to write? Drop in a comment.
Thanking You,
Sincerely,
#14
P.S. Manchester United have hired a thumb as their new manager. What in God's name.
P.P.S. Don't take offence United fans, it's all thumbtongue-in-cheek.
It was a little over a year ago that four idiots, united by their love of football, decided to start a blog. What ensued was a shitstorm that their friends still shudder about. The friends of our four heroes had to face a deluge of spam messages asking them to read, like, share articles that were of a quality not dissimilar to Marouane Chamakh's hair. Yes, that bad. After a bit of a lull, you know, what with the World Cup and college ending and whatnot, the Four Man Wall is back! I can imagine my social media acquaintances squirming in their seats when they read this, but a great man once said, "Haters gonna hate", so we shall plod along, ignoring your catcalls and jeers.
 |
| Spikes and male pattern baldness. A match made in Morocco. |
Life has a way of uprooting everything around you and yet, give you this feeling that nothing has changed. #7, our silent tech-guy, and #25, our not-so-silent tech-guy, have moved to Canada and the U.S. respectively to study cool tech stuff and whatnot. #18 and myself have shifted cities, new job and all that. So, in short, we've gone international. A lot can happen in a year eh?
But, as it invariably does, a new season has dawned upon us. That glorious constant that changes every single time. We're a couple of weeks into the new season; the transfer deadline day is upon us, so previewing one of the clubs may seem a tad late, but that's what I'm going to do. So, ladies (hehe) and gentlemen, here cometh the pain: The Arsenal 2014-15 Season Preview.
I must admit, I feel a little awkward not having to mention the trophy drought. Now that that monkey is off our backs, hopefully we can kick on and have a real go at major honours (read Premier League and Champions League) this season.
The transfer window started off with us turning down the chance to re-sign one Francesc Fabregas. A decision that rankled with me not because I was still hung up over him (I wasn't), but because I didn't think we'd have a plan in place. Yes, we signed Mesut Ozil last season, but that was a shambles of a transfer window, and turning down one of the best playmakers in the world seemed a little stupid (especially in light of us playing Ozil on the left. What is up with that?!). However, we bought, and how. We started off with signing shorts-hating Alexis Sanchez from our youth feeder club Barcelona, and then bringing in Frenchman Mathieu Debuchy from Premiere Ligue side Newcastle United. This was followed by the signings of Colombian 'keeper David Ospina from Nice and Calum Chambers from the Great Southampton Fire Sale. How about that, Arsenal doing transfer business nice and early, which really does make me not regret passing up Cesc....yet.
As is often the case, the additions meant the departures of some players. Lukasz Fabianski and Bacary Sagna left for free. Vermaelen moved to Barcelona, Jenkinson went on loan to West Ham and Nicklas Bendtner signed for Wolfsburg. But, I think, overall, we've ended up on the positive side of the ledger. The squad is pretty strong, but I think we'll fall short and finish 3rd. Chelsea and Manchester City have outstanding squads, and ours, though not shabby, doesn't quite match up. We've got two really good keepers in Szczesny and Ospina. Last season, I wanted a goalkeeper because I had m reservations about Szczesny, but he had a very good season, and I've no qualms about our number one. At left back, Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs are quality. Debuchy has, surprisingly for me, filled in Sagna's boots quite well early on this season. Calum Chambers has been absolutely fantastic, and the guy is just 19. Makes you feel a little worthless eh? No? Right, just me then.
It's at centre-back where we have a massive shortage. Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker are a great pairing, but Chambers aside, there's nobody else who can play there. We've got one day to get a centre-back in, or else, we're playing with fire. A bloody big fire. Right next to an oil tanker. Our midfield, on the other hand, is chock full. We've got two players for every position and I'm not even counting Diaby. Out wide, we've got the numbers, but Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain aside, I don't think we've got real quality. Our striking department doesn't really strike fear into the hearts of opposition defences either (geddit?). With Giroud out for the rest of the year, there will be a clamour for us to buy a new striker, but Wenger has indicated that Alexis was bought to play as a striker, so there's that. A proper beast of a defensive midfielder would do nicely, but that would almost certainly mean curtains for Flamini.
So, we're going into the final day of the window desperately needing a centre-back and ideally, also adding a DM. Knowing Wenger, he'll buy a bloke who can play both positions. Or a bloke who can play neither and force him to play both positions. Square pegs and round holes. Or rather, the other way round. Or not, I don't really know. Any buying will mean selling, considering the numbers we've got:
Szczesny (HG)
Ospina
Monreal
Gibbs (HG)
Mertesacker
Koscielny
Debuchy
Arteta
Flamini
Wilshere (HG)
Ramsey (HG)
Diaby
Rosicky
Coquelin
Cazorla
Ozil
Walcott (HG)
Podolski
Campbell
Sanchez
Giroud
That's 16 foreign players, and this is off the top of my head. Sanogo, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Martinez and Chambers are all U21, so I haven't added them. It's a strong squad, and with a couple of good additions, I think we could just go all the way. Just.
That is if this new formation works. I don't know why we're playing Mesut Ozil on the left. The idea that most Gooners, myself included, harboured was that Ozil would be racking up the assists from the middle of the park feeding the speed-demons Sanchez and Walcott. Doesn't look like happening in this formation right now. We've looked unspectacular in our games so far, but that's largely down to a lack of match fitness. So, barring any new additions, I'm predicting a 3rd place finish in the Premier League and a quarterfinal exit in the Champions League.
Right, so, we're back. Not really with a bang, we know. We lack match fitness too. But hey, we were as rubbish as we usually are. Let's hope Arsenal have a nice surprise for us come May.
Don't want us back? Want someone less shitty to write? Drop in a comment.
Thanking You,
Sincerely,
#14
P.S. Manchester United have hired a thumb as their new manager. What in God's name.
 |
| Thumbs up if you see the resemblance |
